7 Great Day Hiking Trails in Nevada

Wheeler Peak and Stella Lake at Great Basin National Park.

River Nature Trail
Dayton State Park Hikers longing for a patch of green in western Nevada’s desert find it at Dayton State Park. Just 12 miles east of Carson City on U.S. 50, the park borders the Carson River, whose headwaters form in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The slightly less than a mile-long River Nature Trail heads to and briefly follows the river. 

Alpine Lakes Loop
Great Basin National Park
Families can hike an alpine landscape almost two miles above sea level on the Alpine Lakes Loop at Great Basin National Park. The 2.3-mile trail sits in a national park so remote that its night skies ranks as among the country’s darkest.

Best trails to see Grand Basin’s wonders
Among the best ways to see Great Basin National Park’s top sights is via a day hike. Just five short trails will allow you to enjoy each of the park’s highlights – Earth’s oldest living organisms, limestone caves, night skies alit with thousands of stars, Nevada’s only glacier, and ancient pictographs.

Learn more about national park day hiking trails in my Best Sights to See at America’s National Parks series.

Diverse trails abound across Mojave Desert

Joshua Tree National Park, in the Mojave Desert.

North America’s driest landscapes, fascinating rock formations, and extinct volcanoes await day hikers in the Mojave Desert.

At 25,000 miles, the Mojave is the smallest of America’s four deserts. Thanks to its proximity to Hollywood, however, it’s often the most filmed desert in television shows and motion pictures. Most Americans are somewhat familiar with it, if only as a desert backdrop.

The Mojave stretches across the rugged California desert north and east of Los Angeles as well as Arizona’s northwest corner and the southern tip of Nevada including Las Vegas. Its boundaries are roughly synonymous with the Joshua tree’s growth area. Both Joshua Tree and Death Valley national parks sit within the Mojave.

Because of its elevation, the Mojave can be bitterly cold in winter yet during summer its temperatures can soar so that standing in it for only a few minutes proves deadly. In fact, the highest temperature ever recorded in the United States occurred in Death Valley at 134 F.

Here are just a few of the great day hiking trails for exploring the Mojave:
g Amboy Crater
g Best trails for seeing Death Valley National Park’s wonders
g Best trails for seeing Joshua Tree National Park’s wonders
g Golden Canyon Interpretive Trail (Death Valley National Park)
g Little Butte Trail (Saddleback Butte State)
g Little Rock Recreation Area
g Skull Rock Trail (Joshua Tree National Park)

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

Best trails to see Grand Basin’s wonders

Bristlecone pine. Photo courtesy of
Great Basin NPS.

Among the best ways to see Great Basin National Park’s top sights is via a day hike. Just five short trails will allow you to enjoy each of the park’s highlights – Earth’s oldest living organisms, limestone caves, night skies alit with thousands of stars, Nevada’s only glacier, and ancient pictographs.

Earth’s oldest living organisms
On several of the national park’s glacial moraines are incredibly old bristlecone pines, many nearly 5,000 years old, meaning they began growing as the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids. The 2.8-mile round trip Bristlecone Pine Trail allows you to walk among a grove of the trees, which scientists say likely are the oldest living organisms on Earth.

Limestone caves
The Lehman Caves run through 550 millon-year-old marble and limestone rock; water filled the cave rooms as recently as 12,000 years ago. The park ranger-led Grand Palace Tour heads through 0.6 miles of rooms, including past the intriguing Parachute Shield formation. Children must be at least 5 years old to go on the tour.

Incredible stargazing
Thanks to the dry climate, high altitude, and limited noise pollution, Great Basin boasts some of the darkest night skies in the United States. On a moonless night, you’ll be able to see thousands of stars and the distant Andromeda Galaxy with the naked eye. For great views that don’t head into the backcountry, take the 0.3-mile Mountain View Nature Trail, which starts at the Lehman Caves Visitor Center.

Nevada’s only glacier
Measuring 300 feet long and 400 feet wide, the Wheeler Peak Glacier is Nevada’s only glacier and one of the southernmost in the United States. To touch the glacier, take the Bristlecone Pine Trail and then the Glacier Trail for 4.6-miles round trip. The glacier is at a very high elevation; the trailhead starts at 9,800 feet and climbs 1,100 feet above that.

Ancient pictographs
Pictographs painted by Fremont Indians who lived in the area more than 700 years ago dot a small cave that is a very short walk. The Upper Pictograph Cave sits just off the road leading to the Grey Cliffs, a few miles past the Lehman Caves Visitor Center.

Learn more about national park day hiking trails in my Best Sights to See at America’s National Parks guidebook.

Hike beneath Nevada’s second highest peak

Wheeler Peak with alpine flowers.
Photo courtesy Grand Basin NPS.

Alpine Lakes Loop, courtesy Great Basin NPS.

Alpine Lakes Loop passes two tarns beneath ridge

Families can hike a mountainous landscape almost two miles above sea level on the Alpine Lakes Loop at Nevada’s Great Basin National Park.

The 2.3-mile trail sits in a national park so remote that its night skies ranks as among the country’s darkest. It’s roughly midway between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, and there’s no freeway nearby…and there’s no entrance fee to the park either.

Because of the high elevation, July through September mark the best time to visit the visit. In fact, snow typically closes the road the rest of the year.

To reach the trailhead, from U.S. Hwy. 50 turn south onto Nevada Hwy. 487. In Baker, Nevada, turn west onto Nevada Hwy. 488. After entering the park, turn right/north onto Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive. Park in the Bristlecone Trail lot. The trailhead starts along the scenic drive south of the lot. Head right/west on the trail.

You’ll find yourself in a pine and aspen forest with the dramatic sawtooth ridges of the South Snake Range rising about you. Dominating the skyline directly to the south is Wheeler Peak.

The trail starts at just below 10,000 feet above sea level, so don’t be surprised if those first few steps wind you. There truly is less oxygen at higher elevations, so you’ll want to pace yourself and watch for signs of altitude sickness.

Stella Lake and Wheeler Peak
The trail steadily gains elevation gain during the first mile. As doing so, in spots the trees give way to alpine meadows of fairly barren ground.

In just under a mile, the trail reaches Stella Lake. Technically called a tarn, it was created when a glacier scooped out a depression, and as retreating left melted ice trapped in the hole. The lake is no more than 10 feet deep, and during winter it freezes solid.

As the trail heads around the lake’s western side, look on the aspen trunks for dendroglyphs. These are artistic carvings made by sheepherders during the 1800s.

From Stella Lake are excellent views of Wheeler Peak, which at 13,605 feet is the highest point in the park and the second highest in Nevada. It features an active rock glacier. Also visible to the east is Jeff Davis Peak; at 12,777 feet, it’s the park’s second highest and Nevada’s third highest mountain.

Immediately southeast of Stella Lake, the trail reaches its highest point, just shy of 10,440 feet. Two miles above sea level is 10,560 feet.

Lehman Creek wildflowers
The trail gradually slopes downward from there, coming to Teresa Lake at about 1.6 miles from the starting point. The spring-fed Lehman Creek flows into the lake and supports a variety of summer wildflowers, including Parry’s primrose, penstemon, and phlox, all set against vibrant green grass. Butterflies are abundant here as well.

Heading northeast, the trail crosses and then briefly parallels Lehman Creek. About 0.2 miles from the lake, the path forks. The spur to the right heads to bristlecone cones and the Wheeler Peak Glacier; the additional mile of walking gains 600 feet in elevation. To complete the loop, however, go left.

As heading closer to and below the 10,000 feet mark, Engelmann spruce and limber pines grow thicker. In about a half-mile from the spur, the trail crosses a branch of Lehman Creek and then reaches the road you drove in on.

Learn more about national park day hiking trails in my Best Sights to See at America’s National Parks guidebook.

Article about Nevada trail featured in Reno-area magazine

A Reno-area magazine published my article reviewing a hiking trail in west-central Nevada. The article describes the River Nature Trail at Dayton State Park in the July-August 2012 issues of Seniors’ Scoop magazine. “Compared to the sparse upper levels of the park, the riverway is a comparative Eden,” the article says of the trail. “Fremont cottonwoods with their spreading branches grace the river banks. Willows, alders, Russian olive, rushes, sedges, and various grasses further add to the greenery.” You can read the article (and the rest of the magazine) online.

Read more about day hiking with children in my guidebook Hikes with Tykes.

For patch of green near Reno, hike this trail

Dayton State Park, Nev.

NOTE: This article originally appeared in Seniors’ Scoop magazine’s July-August 2012 edition.

Seniors longing for a patch of green in western Nevada’s desert find it at Dayton State Park. Just 12 miles east of Carson City on U.S. 50, the park borders the Carson River, whose headwaters form in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The slightly less than a mile-long River Nature Trail heads to and briefly follows the river.

The best time to visit during the summer is early morning, as daytime temperatures can reach 100 degrees, even along the river. Daytime is fine during fall and spring, though.

Upon arriving at the park’s entrance to the lower park, look for the kiosk located a few yards beyond. It lists trail information and the park’s rules and regulations. Follow the paved road to where it loops; parking is available there.

The River Nature Trail runs along a ditch dike. If you’ve been on the trail several years ago, it may look quite different on your return visit. Frequent flooding has forced the trail to be rebuilt several times. Boy Scout troop volunteers maintain the trail.

Benches as well as picnic sites sit along the River Nature Trail. Hikers can take several different spurs from the main trail down to the river.

Compared to the sparse upper levels of the park, the riverway is a comparative Eden. Fremont cottonwoods with their spreading branches grace the river banks. Willows, alders, Russian olive, rushes, sedges, and various grasses further add to the greenery.

You’re certain to spot cottontails and ground squirrels along the walk. The Carson River sports a number of waterfowl, included teals, long-billed curlews, and various migratory songbirds. Fish in the river include cutthroat trout, speckled dace, and tui chub. The Northwestern Pond turtle also can be spotted swimming about.

Keep an eye out for a number of other wildlife as well. Both bald and golden eagles and other raptors often can be spotted in the sky. And don’t be surprised if you come upon beaver and mule deer.

The trail is fairly easy to traverse, with an elevation gain of only 25 feet. Sands and fine clays, thanks to periodic flooding, make for a nice walking surface.

During the area’s last major flood – the New Years Flood of 1998 – erosion caused the Carson River to change its course. It now flows father to the east than it did during the 20th century. The former and now dry riverbed can be seen across from the trail’s spurs.

In addition, this change in the river’s course left an oxbow – a crescent-shaped lake next to a winding river – on the Carson’s western shoreline. The island that separates the main river from the oxbow is home to many of the state-protected Northwestern Pond turtle.

Pets can walk the trail if on a leash. You’ll want to bring your own water, though, as there are no drinking facilities along the trail.

The make a daytrip out of it, after taking the trail head over to the Rock Point Stamp Mill in the upper park. Built in 1861, the mill once processed silver ore mined in the Comstock Lode.

Read more about day hiking with children in my guidebook Hikes with Tykes.